Gastric bypass surgery is not cheap and, unfortunately, many people choose to undergo surgery knowing the baseline gastric bypass cost but overlooking the fact that a variety of factors, frequently outside of their control, will result in the cost of gastric bypass surgery being far higher than they had expected by the time they are finished.
Gastric bypass surgery involves much more than merely the operation itself. In the majority of cases it will also involve extensive pre-operative counseling and many surgical centers require you to undertake a pre-treatment program before approving your surgery. Additionally, most patients will require a period of follow-up nutritional and dietary counseling. These two items can add considerably to the final cost of a gastric bypass.
You also need to consider the risk of complications arising, which may require additional surgery and hospitalization or outpatient treatment.
All gastric bypass surgery patients will suffer some complications which will vary from minor problems which are easily treated to serious complications which result in further surgery and hospitalization for perhaps several days. Once again, complications can add very considerably to the cost of gastric bypass surgery and can even end up doubling the cost.
Finally, you need to consider is whether or not your insurer will meet your costs. A growing number of insurance companies are covering weight loss surgery today but there are still all too many policies which exclude obesity treatment. Further, where a policy does cover obesity treatment, you may find that there a number of conditions detailing exactly what they will and what will not pay for. Your policy might for example limit cover to certain types of surgery (like the Roux en Y procedure) and only cover the cost of the operation itself.
Surgical centers will ordinarily give you advice on insurance cover and will often even contact your insurance company for you to ask whether or not they would pay a claim for your intended surgery.
However, you should view this as simply advice and protect yourself against problems at a later date by writing to your insurance company yourself and obtaining their written confirmation of your cover in advance of any treatment.
In writing to your insurer you need to ascertain the full extent of your cover, including cover for pre and post-surgical counseling and treatment and in the event of complications.
The basic cost of gastric bypass surgery typically runs from about $15,000 to $35,000 depending upon the nature of the operation you are considering and where your surgery is going to be carried out. However, the final cost of gastric bypass surgery is likely to be quite a bit higher than this basic cost.
In short – do your homework and do not commit yourself to surgery until you are happy that you can comfortably meet the final price which you may have to pay.